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AY 2006-07 • Issue No. 4 http://halthome.org April 2007

HALT honors its Excellence in TeachingAward winners

Every year, HALT recognizes and honors twooutstanding second language teachers in the state ofHawai‘i through its Excellence in Teaching Award.This award recognizes our teachers’ exemplaryperformance in and invaluable contributions to thefield of language teaching in Hawai‘i.

This award, however, would not have been possibleif not for the generous contribution of the HonoluluAdvertiser Foundation, our strongest partner, whohas been supporting us since the Award’sinception. The foundation sponsors this award bydonating a monetary contribution of $1,000 everyyear ($500 per awardee).

Last year’s recipients, Professors KathrynKlingebiel and Lucia Aranda, were both from theUH Department of Languages and Literatures ofEurope and the Americas. This year, we haveanother exceptional teacher from that samedepartment, Esther Rodrigo Diez, who is therecipient of this year’s HALT award at thecollege/university level.

In the K-12 level, the award goes to anotheroutstanding teacher not too far from UH; actuallyit’s just next door. From Mid-Pacific Institute, therecipient is Anne Marie Shim.

Congratulations to both Mrs. Shim and Ms. Diez,this year’s recipients of HALT’s Excellence inTeaching Award. And thank you also to those whonominated them, who believed in their dedication,passion, and extraordinary language teachingexperience that exemplifies an excellent languageteacher.

Finally, we would like to encourage everyone tostart considering nomination of a colleague whoyou think deserve this excellent award for next

year. We have many remarkable language teachersall over the state who are possible candidates forthis award. So please visit our Web Site,www.halthome.org, to get more information aboutthis award.

ABOUT THE AWARDEES:

ESTHER RODRIGO DIEZ has been teachingSpanish at UH Manoa since 1999. Here is whatseveral of Esther’s students have said: “ Esther’sclasses are always extremely diverse in activitiesand structure, providing a palette of forms in whicha student may enrich his/her education. Herinfectious attitude and the atmosphere which shecreates in the classroom ultimately leads to a verypositive and productive learning environmentwhere each student receives consistentencouragement and motivation.” “It is unlikelythat no other individual has been a more significantinfluence on my university education than SeñoraRodrigo. She nurtured my initial interest in thelanguage and culture and has been an inspiration tomy studies.” “She has made me realize thatlanguage is a window to a new world. (continuedon page 3)

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT2006-07 was another successful year for HALT. Three years into the Decade of Languages, we continue to makegreat strides in addressing the needs of our Hawai‘i language teaching community. Thank you all for yourcontinued support of HALT! I wish to offer my deepest appreciation to the dedicated board members for theirundying commitment to HALT and generous contributions to its projects and activities.

The 2006 Fall Symposium, “Navigating the Curriculum”, was a successful opener of the school year, efficientlycoordinated by Jim Yoshioka, our hardworking Newsletter Editor and ACTFL representative. Our speakers,Linda Fujikawa (KCC), Doris Christopher (UHM) and Kawika Napoleon (KCC), shared some very useful andpractical ideas that we can all bring to our classroom, and we thank them for taking the time to come and sharetheir experience and expertise.

Our second Edith Kuttner Essay Contest with this year’s theme, “Learning Languages: Discovering Self,”received a number of entries from several O‘ahu high schools. The winning essay was written by Ha Ngo fromRoosevelt High School, where Lyanne Iwamoto locally coordinated the contest. Thanks to Cindy Wong andJulius Soria for their overall coordination efforts, and to Teresita Ramos, Cynthia Ning, and John Mayer forserving as readers/judges of the contest.

Congratulations to our Excellence in Teaching Awardees, Esther Rodrigo Diez, Spanish instructor at UH Manoa,and Anne Marie Shim, French teacher at Mid-Pacific Institute. You both deserve the honor for your dynamic andinspiring presence in the classrooms and your notable contributions to the language teaching profession. For theircontinued support of this Award, we are truly grateful to the Honolulu Advertiser Foundation. Thanks also to ourAwards Coordinator, Imelda Gasmen, for her overseeing this project.

HALT’s biggest endeavor for the year was the 2007 Spring Conference: “Teaching Languages: DiscoveringConnections.” The keynote address delivered by Doris Christopher (UH Manoa College of Education) was bothinsightful and informative. Participants also expressed interest and appreciation for all the practical ideas sharedby presenters from different Hawai‘i universities, colleges, and K-12 schools. This year saw a record high in theparticipation of exhibitors. Publisher representatives were happy with the number of people who came to talk tothem about new books and teaching materials. We also received a good number of donations for the sweepstakesdrawing at the luncheon where participants had some time to sit down with colleagues, catch up, and exchangeideas. For this successful event, we owe much to Laura Sardagna, 2007 Conference Chair, and the tireless effortsof conference organizers, Paul Chandler, Jim Yoshioka, Carol Beresiwsky, Kayoko Ross, Tess Lane, YukioKataoka, Cindy Wong, Julius Soria and Imelda Gasmen. Thank you all and congratulation on a job well done!

HALT continues to have regional and national presence through SWCOLT (ably represented by Paul Chandler)and ACTFL (efficiently represented by Jim Yoshioka), as well as on the worldwide web (halthome.org) throughthe effective management of our Web Administrator, Tess Lane. This April, several of our colleagues will beattending the SWCOLT Conference in Las Vegas where the campaign for the 2009 SWCOLT Conference inHonolulu, HI will be launched. Our Best of HALT presenter at this event will be Satoru Shinagawa of KCC.

Lastly, let me welcome the 2007-08 HALT officers and representatives. I wish you all the best for future projectsand another fruitful year of our organization. I think that we can all look forward to an exciting year as weintensify our campaign for the joint 2009 SWCOLT-HALT conference. Good luck!

It’s been an honor and a pleasure serving as President of HALT this school year. Mahalo for the opportunity! Seeyou all at future HALT activities.

Respectfully,

Sheila ZamarUniversity of Hawai‘i at Manoazamar@hawaii.edu

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HALT EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARD WINNERS (COVER STORY, CONTINUED . . . )She is one of the best kept secrets at the university.”

And from a colleague: “Esther has proven herself to be a superb teacher and an invaluable colleague. I wouldlike to point out Esther’s wonderful rapport with her students and adeptness in explaining the finer points ofgrammar in a very accessible manner. Besides her stellar classroom performance, I would like to draw thecommittee’s attention to her creativity in producing classroom activities: her exercises and tasks are by far someof the most inventive, useful, and expertly executed I have seen here at UH.”

ANNE MARIE SHIM has been teaching French at the Mid-Pacific Institute for 18 years. She became theWorld Languages department head in 1996. She teaches beginning through advanced levels in French (includingthe International Baccalaureate program which has consistently earned a certificate on the IB exam). She has alsotaught Spanish at the same school. To sum up Anne Marie’s teaching experience, Richard Schaffer, Mid-PacificInstitute’s high school principal, has said: “Not only is Mrs. Shim an excellent French and Spanish teacher, she isalso an outstanding World Languages chair and a very strong voice for the promotion of second language skills.My frequent visits to her classroom always showed engaged, challenged, interested, and performing students.With a positive, professional, and energetic demeanor, she never fails to have a productive and enjoyable lesson.With a soft-spoken, supportive yet firm manner, she inspires her faculty to do their best both in and out of theclassroom. Most recently, Mrs. Shim, through research and advocacy, has led Mid-Pacific to once again offerMandarin Chinese as a World Languages option for our students.”

Aside from teaching, Mrs. Shim is also involved in other endeavors — she has been the VP of the AmericanAssociation of Teachers of French since 1997.

REMINDER: CASTEL-J REGISTRATIONCASTEL-J (Computer Assisted Systems for Teaching & Learning Japanese) is a conference on how technologyis used to teach Japanese. CASTEL-J in Hawai‘i will be held at Kapi‘olani Community College, August 3-5,2007. This is the 4th international conference, and there will be about 80 paper presentations, workshops, paneldiscussions, and poster sessions. The previous three conferences were held in Torino, Italy, Toronto, Canada, &San Diego, California. Don't miss this chance to participate in such an internationally recognized conference heldlocally.

The early registration deadline (April 15) has passed. The Kama‘aina late registration rate is $70.00. This is ahuge bargain considering the regular late registration rate is $170.

Please go to the conference web site to register or find out more information about the conference:

http://castelj.kshinagawa.com/

If you have any questions, please contact the conference chair, Satoru Shinagawa satoru@shinagawa.us

HALT OFFICERS FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2006-07President: Sheila Zamar (UHM)

Conference Chair VP: Laura Sardagna (Academyof the Pacific)

Membership VP: Kayoko Ross (UHM)

Secretary: Lisa Kobuke (KCC)

Treasurer: Yukio Kataoka (KCC)

Newsletter Editor: Jim Yoshioka (UHM)

Webmaster: Tess Lane (HPU)

Awards Coordinator: Imelda Gasmen (UHM)

DOE Contact: Lynette Fujimori (DOE)

SWCOLT Representative: Paul Chandler(UHM)

Members at Large: Carol Beresiwsky (KCC),Teresita Ramos (UHM), & Cindy Wong(Moanalua High School)

Language Representatives: Sue Fujitani (KCC– Chinese), Ruth Mabanglo (UHM – Filipino),Julius Soria (UHM – Ilokano), Lucia Aranda(UHM – Spanish), & Kathryn Klingebiel (UHM– French)

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15TH BJT BUSINESS JAPANESEPROFICIENCY TEST

The 15th BJT Business Japanese Proficiency Test(formerly known as the JETRO Test) will be heldat JAIMS in Hawai‘i Kai. The BJT objectivelymeasures and evaluates Japanese communicationskills in business situations.

Eligibility: Individuals whose first language is notJapanese. (Persons of Japanese nationality maytake the test provided that Japanese is not their firstlanguage.)

Date: Sunday, June 10, 2007

Time: 8:30 am (Registration begins)

9:00 am (Test begins – Late shows will not

be admitted)

Place: JAIMS - 6660 Hawaii Kai Drive

Cost: $50.00 (Cash or check payable to JAIMS)

Registration Deadline: Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Contact: Lori Nakano

Tel: (808) 396-7105

Email: lnakano@jaims.org

Further information regarding the BJT can befound on the BJT website athttp://www.jetro.go.jp/en/bjt/

STARTALK – CHINESE LANGUAGEIMMERSION SPORTS CAMP!

Student program (July 8-28, 2007):

Sixty motivated high school students (enteringgrades 9, 10 and 11 in Fall 2007) with no previousexperience in Chinese (any dialect) will beaccepted to participate in a 3-week residentialprogram on the campus of the University ofHawai‘i at Manoa, to acquire basic listening,speaking, reading, writing, and culture skills inMandarin Chinese. Participants will learn languagewhile practicing table-tennis and martial arts (anhour a day each) under the tutelage ofchampionship level coaches from the People’sRepublic of China. Language lessons will bracketthe sports sessions and will consist of interactive,task-based exercises designed to encourage learnersto communicate in Chinese. Evening assignmentsand activities (including tutoring) will supportlearning. Weekend excursions to sites around

scenic Honolulu led by native speakers of Chinesewill provide additional practice.

The camp will provide a total of 90 hours ofinstruction, equivalent to a normal one-semestercourse at the college level. Credit for Chinese 101may be available for students who will be juniors inFall. A separate application and administrative feeis required.

Teacher program (July 8-28, 2007):

Ten pre-service and in-service teachers who have abasic understanding of task- or performance-basedlanguage teaching methodology but lack training inwhat this approach looks like in practice will beinvited to the Sports Camp to observe, providefeedback, and occasionally assist with teaching 70high school students in this three-week immersionprogram.

Special training and discussion sessions every day,during the early evenings and on weekends willsupport the teachers throughout the camp.

It is expected that all teachers participating in thecamp will have at least Intermediate Highproficiency in Mandarin Chinese and Advancedlevel proficiency in English.

If desired, three credits of “Teaching Chinese as aForeign Language” may be obtained via separateapplication and payment of administrative fees.

For detailed information about either program, visithttp://www.chinesestudies.hawaii.edu/confucius/projects/summer/

Applications for both programs are due by May 1,2007.

FILIPINO PROGRAM LAUNCHESPHILIPPINE LITERATURE FESTIVAL

A two-day Philippine literature festival to celebrateFilipino writing and writers took place on April 12& 13, 2007 at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoacampus and the Philippine Consulate General ofHawai‘i.

Initiated by the UH Filipino and PhilippineLiterature Program, the festival convened writersfrom the Philippines, the US mainland, andHawai‘i. The first day was called “Pagtatagpo:Filipino Writers Summit,” a roundtable discussionon the direction of Philippine writing in the UnitedStates. The panelists included Ma. JosephineBarrios, a well-known playwright, poet andnovelist from the Philippines; R. Zamora Linmark,distinguished visiting writer from the UH

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Department of English and author of Rolling theRs; Ninotchka Rosca, New York-basedinternational human rights activist and author of theaward-winning State of War; Marianne Villanueva,San Francisco-based short story writer and authorof Mayor of Roses; Michelle Cruz Skinner,Punahou teacher and author of Mango Season; andFrancis Tanglao-Aguas, a playwright/stageperformer and author of the collection, Purple.

The writers were met by local writers and UHaspiring writers/performers on April 12, 2:00-5:00pm at the QLC Student Services 412 on the Manoacampus. Among the invited local writers wereAmalia Bueno, Michael Cueva, Elynia Mabanglo,Aurelio Agcaoili, Amado Yoro, Khalil Apuzen,Lee Cataluna, Felino Tubera, Jovita Zimmerman,and many other young writers from the Universityof Hawai‘i campuses.

To celebrate writing, the festival had a musicalliterary event on the 13th, 6:00 to 9:00 pm on thelanai of the Philippine Consulate General ofHawai‘i. The evening showcased performances ofinvited writers and contributors to the third volumeof the Katipunan Literary Journal.

The festival aims to (1) create an avenue ofdiscourse amongst writers and aficionados ofFilipino ancestry about the state of the art,problems of invisibility, and publicationopportunities open to would-be writers; (2)discover diversity in fostering literary writings in amulti-lingual setting (Filipino, English, Ilokano, orPidgin); (3) foster the appreciation of Philippineliterature through the writings of Filipino andFilipino-Americans; (4) encourage and showappreciation to Filipino and Filipino Americanstudents of the UH System, local Filipino Americanwriters of Hawai‘i and the US mainland throughpoetry reading, storytelling, and performance arts; and (5) inspire young Filipino American writers byfinding role models for them through the presenceof renowned writers.

For inquiries about this or future literary events,please call or email Ruth Mabanglo, 956-6970,mabanglo@hawaii.edu; Elvira Fonacier, 956-5901,fonacier@hawaii.edu; or Sheila Zamar, 956-3550,zamar@hawaii.edu

BUSY SEMESTER FOR THE UHMFRENCH DIVISION

On the second Saturday morning in March, 248students from public and private schools --Campbell, Iolani, Kaiser, Le Jardin, Mid-Pac,Mililani, Punahou, and Saint Andrew's Priory --came to Moore Hall to take the “Grand Concours,”

or national French contest, organized by theAmerican Association of Teachers of French.Three graduate students in the French Division, ledby Prof. Marie-José Fassiotto, helped the highschool teachers in administering the Concours. Ourthanks to Prof. Fassiotto, Tania Fortier, AshleyUyeno, and Iskandar Rabeendran!

Winners in the French Division poetry contest, forstudents of French and Italian, will be announcedshortly. There are four categories of prizes, forfirst-year students through graduates. The contestdeadline for the 2006-07 academic year fell on the22nd of March. Winners will have an opportunityto recite their winning poems at the upcomingInitiation Banquet of Pi Delta Phi, the nationalFrench honor society, on 2 May 2007. Winningpoems and many others are published annually inVers, edited by Prof. Marie-José Fassiotto. Versbegan publication in 1978 and can be found on theshelves of Hamilton Library (PQ 1160. V47).

The Division also participated in “InternationalStudent Night 2007” at the Campus Centerballroom, on Friday 16 March, with a table devotedto French and Italian language and culture.Featured were posters, maps, flags, a video or two,and a PowerPoint quiz on French food. Passersbyenjoyed playing a special version of French ‘bingo’by identifying mystery objects from France(bootjack, butter/cheese cutter, nutcrackers, snailtongs, and so on). This year’s theme forInternational Night was “A Century of Aloha,” inrecognition of the 100th birthday of the Universityof Hawai‘i at Manoa. Thanks to Jacob Huss’ FR309 (Business French) class members whoparticipated in International Night 2007, and toJacob for his time and energy. Our specialcorrespondent Ceci Febrero caught Jacob and Iskaas they were enjoying the second part of the stageshow (see picture above).

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MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Important reminders! Upcoming events!

Apr 23 – Toyota International Teacher Program application deadline – http://www.iie.org/toyota/

Apr 25 – BJT Business Japanese Proficiency Test registration deadline - http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/bjt/

May 1 – STARTALK application deadline - http://www.chinesestudies.hawaii.edu/confucius/projects/summer/

Aug 5-7 – CASTEL-J Conference (KCC) - http://castelj.kshinagawa.com/

Sep 20-22 – 2007 Task-based Language Teaching Conference (UHM) – http://www.tblt2007.org/

Oct 27 – 2007 HALT Fall Symposium – http://www.halthome.org

Nov 15-18 – 2007 ACTFL Conference (San Antonio, TX) – http://www.actfl.org/

ABOUT HALT (WWW.HALTHOME.ORG )

The Hawai‘i Association of Language Teachers (HALT) is a group of World Language Teachers from K-12 andhigher education institutions in Hawai‘i who work to maintain the highest standards in the profession of teachingworld languages. We also promote the academic welfare of our students by providing steadily improvingprofessional procedures and objectives for all teachers. Our organization provides teachers of world languageswith the opportunity to meet with their colleagues to exchange ideas and experiences and to enrich theirprofessional background.

HALT coordinates two events per year: a Fall Symposium on a specific topic and a Spring Conference, in whichmembers and guest speakers present pedagogical or research topics on language teaching and learning. HALTalso publishes the HALT Newsletter.

Membership is open to all foreign language teachers and administrators in Hawai‘i. Language students may alsoparticipate as non-voting members within the organization. Please see the back page for our membership form.

HALT is an affiliated member of the national American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)and the regional Southwest Conference on Language Teaching (SWCOLT), whose member states includeArizona, California, Colorado, Hawai‘i, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. Visit theirrespective websites at http://www.actfl.org and http://www.swcolt.org for more information.

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HALT MEMBERSHIP FORM FOR 2007

Name : ____________________________________________ Title: ________________________________

Language(s): _______________________________________________________________________________

Institution: _________________________________________________________________________________

Mailing Address: ___________________________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip Code: _________________________________________________________________________

Phone: (home) __________________ (work) __________________ e-mail ___________________________

Membership Dues: Lifetime $100.00 Professional (2007) $15.00 Student (2007) $5.00

The amount enclosed is $_____ Please mail this form to

Is this a renewal? HALT yes P.O. Box 61903 no Honolulu, HI 96839-1903

As a member you will receive an electronic copy of the HALT Newsletter 4 times during the academicyear. Please be sure to include your email address above. If you wish to have a paper version sent via mailinstead, please check here: